Caffeine & Carburetors received a recommendation from the Park and Recreation Commission Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2014, to have the event at Waveny Park in New Canaan, Conn., as a one-time trial Oct. 19, 2014. The recommendation is pending review by the town's special events committee. less

Caffeine & Carburetors received a recommendation from the Park and Recreation Commission Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2014, to have the event at Waveny Park in New Canaan, Conn., as a one-time trial Oct. 19, 2014. The ... more

Photo: Nelson Oliveira

Image 2 of 3

Car enthusiasts check out a vintage Mercedez on Pine Street in New Canaan, Conn., during Caffeine & Carburetors Sunday morning, Sept. 7, 2014. The town's Park and Recreation Commission has recommended that the event take place at Waveny Park Oct. 19. less

Car enthusiasts check out a vintage Mercedez on Pine Street in New Canaan, Conn., during Caffeine & Carburetors Sunday morning, Sept. 7, 2014. The town's Park and Recreation Commission has recommended that the ... more

Photo: Nelson Oliveira

Image 3 of 3

Controversial New Canaan car show moves to park

1 / 3

Back to Gallery

NEW CANAAN -- Five years ago, Caffeine & Carburetors was a small car show in downtown New Canaan, where about 30 drivers would gather outside Zumbach's Gourmet Coffee on a Sunday morning for a cup of joe and some car talk.

As the years went by, however, the event has become so popular -- drawing hundreds of cars and thousands of people -- that it's outgrown the police department's ability to staff the traffic control needed.

So Doug Zumbach, the event's founder and owner of the eponymous coffee shop, asked the Park and Recreation Commission last week if next month's planned event could take place at Waveny Park, where police said it is easier to control traffic.

Despite strong opposition by several commission members, the panel voted 4-3 last week to recommend that Caffeine & Carburetors take place at the park Oct. 19 as a one-time trial.

One of the advantages of having the show at the park is that "it's a very contained facility," where police could staff it with two or three officers, Capt. Vincent DeMaio told the commission. He attended the meeting to explain why the event can no longer be held six times a year in the center of town.

"It clogs up the intersection while they're moving in," DeMaio said. "Once everyone is in place, it's pretty easy to maintain, but I have to staff that with a minimum of five officers for safety reasons in case something does goes wrong ... I have to have additional officers specifically for that event."

Zumbach said he's always paid for the additional police officers, but the town does not have enough officers available to staff six large car shows every year in the downtown area.

The commissioners opposed to the idea were mostly concerned about whether the park could handle thousands of people at once and whether the gathering would benefit the town at all. Commission Chairman Sally Campbell said participants likely would get on the Merritt Parkway as soon as the event ends instead of going downtown for brunch.

"This is an event that is drawing people from all over the Northeast, and there's exposure in the fact that it's in New Canaan, but it's really not benefitting our merchants," she said.

Zumbach disagreed, saying many participants would want to see the rest of the town. "Fifty percent of people will," he estimated.

Recent Caffeine & Carburetors events have spread through Pine and Elm streets as well as Morse Court, which officials said helps drive many shoppers and diners to downtown stores and restaurants. Tucker Murphy, executive director of the New Canaan Chamber of Commerce, said in an interview Thursday that restaurants offering breakfast meals certainly "see a spike in business."

"It's an event that allows the downtown area to really shine, people to see the decorated windows, the range of stores we have," she said.